Here's Where It Gets Interesting
536 episodes - English - Latest episode: 16 days ago - ★★★★★ - 13.3K ratingsHere’s Where It Gets Interesting finds the stories of America you probably haven’t heard. Host Sharon McMahon, a longtime teacher and one of today’s most influential voices, will ignite your curiosity about the fascinating stuff that wasn’t in history textbooks. She’s joined by notable thought leaders who share insights about history, culture, and politics, and inspire us to grow into more thoughtful, well-informed citizens.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
Declassifying America’s Best Kept Secrets with with Matthew Connelly
January 02, 2023 06:00 - 39 minutes - 90.9 MBToday on Here’s Where It Gets Interesting, Professor Matthew Connelly gives us an overview of America’s history with classified information. What does it mean when information is classified? Who decides what information is kept from the public and what’s the process for classification and declassification? Most importantly, how does government accountability affect the future of our democracy? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dinners With Ruth with Nina Totenberg
December 30, 2022 06:00 - 37 minutes - 85.1 MBOn this episode of Here’s Where It Gets Interesting, Sharon sits down with legendary NPR Legal Affairs correspondent, Nina Totenberg. Nina wrote a book–not just about her standing dinner dates with the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, but about the importance of friendships between women. Tune in to hear their conversation about connection, support, and thoughtfulness… and stay for the anecdotes about RBG’s goofy side! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informati...
Finding the Man Within the Myth with Alexis Coe
December 28, 2022 06:00 - 39 minutes - 91.3 MBOn today’s episode of Here’s Where It Gets Interesting, Sharon speaks with presidential historian Alexis Coe, who talks about her goal as a historian to tell the whole story. We have a tendency to regard many of our U.S. Presidents as heroes, illuminating the ways in which they shaped our nation for the good, that we often gloss over their missteps. Historians piece together facts and details to fill in the gaps of the bigger picture, but how often are our interpretations colored by our own l...
Memorable Moments of White House Holidays
December 23, 2022 06:00 - 27 minutes - 62.7 MBOn today’s special holiday episode of Here’s Where It Gets Interesting, we’ll learn about how a few of our presidential families have influenced different types of events and customs during the December holiday season. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The War for the West
December 21, 2022 06:00 - 27 minutes - 63.8 MBToday on Here’s Where It Gets Interesting, we move Westward. While the politics in Washington D.C. were shaping events throughout the rest of the nation, the same can be said in reverse: what was happening in land far from the capital city influenced much of its politics. Join us today at the border of Mexico and Texas to learn about the tipped dominoes that led the U.S. into our first successful war fought on foreign soil. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Nomadic Life of Army Wife Margaret Taylor
December 19, 2022 05:00 - 28 minutes - 66 MBOn today’s episode, we’re going to move from political power player Sarah Polk to our next first lady: a total frontierswoman who was more comfortable roughing it in the wild with Army soldiers than throwing a society ball in Washington D.C. Come meet Margaret “Peggy” Taylor, and learn about her unusual life traveling to the most remote areas of the nation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Frederick Douglass: The Powerhouse Abolitionist
December 16, 2022 06:00 - 25 minutes - 59.4 MBToday on here’s Where It Gets Interesting, we’re going to talk about a person who, by the mid-1800s, was shaping some of the biggest social reform movements to come out of the nation’s Antebellum era. A person who was born with no access and no rights. A person who was born into enslavement, fought his way to freedom, and then worked for a lifetime to ensure that access and equality was given to others. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Wealthy & Powerful Sarah Polk
December 14, 2022 06:00 - 31 minutes - 72.1 MBOn today’s episode of Here’s Where It Gets Interesting, you’ll learn five reasons why Sarah Polk is unique in the constellation of America’s First Ladies. Sarah Childress Polk was a political force because she was so good at seeming not to be. Men and women alike found her intelligent and ambitious, but not threatening. Stay tuned to hear how she used this skill to elevate herself and her husband to the highest positions in the nation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informa...
Women Vs. Whiskey: The Rise of the American Temperance Movement
December 12, 2022 06:00 - 29 minutes - 67.8 MBDid you know that, in the late 1800s, Americans were drinking three times the amount of alcohol we consume today? On this episode of Here's Where It Gets Interesting, you'll get a crash course in the history of drinking in America. Learn why Whiskey became the most-consumed spirit, which Former president tried to smuggle in 500 bottles of French Wine without paying taxes on them, and how the Women's Christian Temperance Union chose to voice their support for Prohibition (there's some bar smas...
Two White House Weddings and a Funeral
December 09, 2022 06:00 - 31 minutes - 72.4 MBWelcome to today's episode of Here's Where It Gets Interesting where we'll talk about a president who had three women perform the official duties of the White House Hostess. John Tyler, often called the “Accidental President”, stepped in when William Henry Harrison died a month into his first term. While his incumbency wasn’t filled with many political gains, he did enter the White House with one wife… only to leave it four years later with a different wife. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/p...
Deaths in the White House
December 07, 2022 06:00 - 29 minutes - 68.4 MBOn this episode of Here’s Where It Gets Interesting, let’s take a brief look at the history of some past presidential deaths–how they happened and what happened after. How has the U.S. government responded to the death of our nation’s leaders? Some of the traditions may surprise you. Do you know which president’s death revolutionized the funeral and embalming industry? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
First Lady of the Month, Anna Harrison
December 05, 2022 06:00 - 30 minutes - 68.9 MBToday on Here’s Where It Gets Interesting, we’re going to talk about another First Lady who follows the pattern: married to the president, but never lived in the White House. This time, it was our first lady’s husband - the newly elected President William Henry Harrison - who died a month into his presidency, giving her no reason to leave her Ohio home and travel to Washington D.C. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Petticoats and Kitchen Cabinets: A Capital City Shake-Up
December 02, 2022 06:00 - 28 minutes - 65.4 MBOn this episode of Here's Where It Gets Interesting, we discuss someone whose defiance of social and moral convention irrevocably shaped the nation’s political stage during the Antebellum years. In the 1800s, the role of Victorian women–especially the wealthy wives of prominent political figures–was to serve as protectors of our nation’s values. Those values centered around the home and church: wives were dutiful, modest, faithful, and charitable. But there are always rule-breakers, aren’t th...
Cookies, Corsets, and a Legacy of Learning from Hannah Van Buren
November 30, 2022 06:00 - 24 minutes - 54.9 MBToday on Here's Where It Gets Interesting, we’ll continue to talk about some key players of the Jacksonian Era - and, before we get to this infamous scandal in Washington that I’ve been teasing you about, we need to learn about another one of our first ladies who never made it to the White House. Our next President’s wife actually passed away almost two decades before she would have been First Lady. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Andrew Jackson and the Cheese That Pleased a Nation
November 28, 2022 06:00 - 28 minutes - 65.4 MBToday on Here's Where It Gets Interesting, we're going to dive in and take a look at some of the actions and eccentricities of the Andrew Jackson presidency. You may think we’ve talked about all of Andrew Jackson’s quirks by now, but NO! We haven’t even scratched the surface. So join us today, and we’ll talk about cheese, the National Debt, and the time Jackson had to climb out a back window of the White House. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Catastrophic Marriage Scandal of Rachel Jackson
November 25, 2022 06:00 - 25 minutes - 58 MBOn this episode of Here’s Where It Gets Interesting, we’re going to talk about a First Lady who never got the opportunity to step foot inside the White House. However, her life had an undeniably major impact on her husband’s two-term presidency. I know we love to hate him, but during this episode, we’re going to discuss the lifelong–and at times scandalous–love and devotion between President Andrew Jackson and his wife, Rachel. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Thanksgiving Episode: From Early Advent to Cranberry Crisis
November 23, 2022 06:00 - 25 minutes - 58.1 MBHappy Thanksgiving, friends! On today’s episode of Here’s Where It Gets Interesting, we take a look at some of the more unusual November holiday White House happenings–from Coolidge’s Thanksgiving Raccoon to Mamie Eisenhower’s hand in the Great Cranberry Crisis of 1959. And if you’re sitting down to share a meal with family and friends this week, don’t forget to give a nod to the woman who made it all possible: Sarah Josepha Hale. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Networking Strategy of Louisa Adams
November 21, 2022 06:00 - 32 minutes - 75.2 MBOn this episode of Here’s Where It Gets Interesting, we return to the White House to talk about one of a much-requested topic: our nation’s First Ladies. By the time today’s First Lady entered the White House, the era of the Founding Fathers had come to an end and the country’s economy was prospering. But politics was another story and becoming more divisive by the day. Join us as we talk about the first non-American born First Lady who accompanied her husband to the White House after a hard-...
How the Future Shapes Our National History with Heather Cox Richardson
November 18, 2022 06:00 - 41 minutes - 95.1 MBOn today’s episode of Here’s Where It Gets Interesting, Sharon interviews one of our most-requested guests. Listeners regularly write in and ask to hear a conversation between Sharon and political history expert Heather Cox Richardson. That day is today! Heather Cox Richardson shares how she believes the way we use language shapes how we see our political views, allies, and enemies. Together, Sharon and Heather also touch on the ways that our future may change our past. Tune in to understand ...
Live Life in Crescendo with Cynthia Covey Haller
November 16, 2022 06:00 - 30 minutes - 68.9 MBOn this episode of Here’s Where It Gets Interesting, Sharon speaks with author Cynthia Covey Haller. Cynthia shares the mantra that her late father, Steven R. Covey, the author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, aspired to during the last decade of his life, and that was to live life in crescendo. Cynthia expands on this concept, defining it as living life with the goal to keep learning, expanding, and growing with the knowledge that your most important work is always ahead of you. ...
Conservation in a Panda Costume with Ami Vitale
November 14, 2022 06:00 - 31 minutes - 72.7 MBToday on Here’s Where It Gets Interesting, National Geographic wildlife photographer Ami Vitale sits down with Sharon to talk about her adventures around the world. Ami is dedicated to spending time with people, places, and animals and sharing their authentic and intimate stories through her camera lens. She speaks about her passion for creativity and environmental conservation efforts, and the idea that an individual may not have the power to change the world, but a great many people taking ...
Brush Up on Your Boundaries with Melissa Urban
November 11, 2022 06:00 - 37 minutes - 85.1 MBOn this episode of Here’s Where It Gets Interesting, Sharon speaks with Whole30 CEO Melissa Urban. But Melissa isn’t here to talk only about food. Instead, the duo tackles the important topic of boundaries and our tendency to struggle with saying one very important word: no. Melissa’s green, yellow, and red light framework for boundaries provides an easy guide to both sharing our boundaries with others and easing our anxiety and dread during difficult conversations. This episode is a must-lis...
Persuaders as Meaning Makers with Anand Giridharadas
November 09, 2022 06:00 - 40 minutes - 93.2 MBJoining Sharon on Here’s Where It Gets Interesting today is author Anand Giridharadas. Anand’s new book, The Persuaders, documents how people persuade others to change their minds and take action. Learn from Anand about how to move from a defeatist attitude of writing one another off. Changing our perspective about “lost causes” may be the exact thing we need to find true connection and repair our fractured relationships and communities. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more infor...
BONUS Episode! Re:Thinking with Adam Grant: If Teachers Took Over the Government with Sharon McMahon
November 08, 2022 06:00 - 44 minutes - 51.1 MBListen to Adam Grant's Re:Thinking Podcast interview with Sharon about how we can rethink the qualifications for elected office, who decides to run, and what information voters should weigh. They also address ways to sharpen critical thinking and ponder how to improve Congress with a few thought experiments–including a total takeover of the House and Senate by none other than America’s government teachers. Hear more episodes of Re:Thinking on the TED Network. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/...
The History of Our Fears and Obsessions with Kate Summerscale
November 07, 2022 06:00 - 35 minutes - 82 MBJoining Sharon on Here’s Where It Gets Interesting today is author Kate Summerscale. She recently wrote The Book of Phobias & Manias, which highlights the history of our fears and obsessions. How come so many of us find dolls and clowns unnerving? Why do we react with a shriek when we see a mouse skitter across the kitchen floor? And what super famous American entrepreneur suffered from koumpounophobia... the fear of buttons? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
A Man of Iron with Troy Senik
November 04, 2022 05:00 - 45 minutes - 105 MBOn this episode of Here’s Where It Gets Interesting, Sharon shares a conversation with former presidential speechwriter Troy Senik. Troy is now the cofounder of Kite & Key Media and author of the new book, A Man Of Iron, which is a sweeping biography of a nonconsecutive two-term President whose time in public service often flies under the radar. Can you guess who Troy will be talking about today? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
All That Is Wicked with Kate Dawson
November 02, 2022 05:00 - 34 minutes - 79.9 MBOn today’s episode of Here’s Where It Gets Interesting, author and podcast host Kate Dawson returns! Kate’s new book, All That Is Wicked transports readers to the Gilded Age–a time when money and prestige made it easy to get away with murder. Or almost, in the sensational case of Edward Rulloff. Kate and Sharon talk about the process of researching and telling true stories and how they shaped history. Rulloff’s case forever changed the way we research the criminal mind. Hosted on Acast. See...
An Independent Influencer in a Two-Party System with Evan McMullin
October 31, 2022 05:00 - 45 minutes - 103 MBOn today’s episode of Here’s Where It Gets Interesting, Sharon speaks with US Senate candidate Evan McMullin from Utah, who is running as an independent without special interest group donations. Together they discuss the two-party system, campaign reform, and the danger of partisan extremism. They also talk candidly about Evan’s background as a CIA officer and how it prepared him for a career change into public office. Evan is running with the goal to build a cross-party coalition of Democrat...
Resilience: Your Questions Answered
October 28, 2022 05:00 - 24 minutes - 57.1 MBWe asked you to write or call in with your lingering questions about Japanese incarceration, so today, on Resilience, Sharon answers your questions. Join us to hear more about what happened to Japanese Americans in Hawaii after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, what happened to the assets of the incarcerated, and where you can find more resources, like oral histories, photos, and video compilations. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Resilience: An Interview with George Takei Pt. 2
October 26, 2022 05:00 - 25 minutes - 57.3 MBToday on Here's Where It Gets Interesting, Sharon continues her conversation with actor George Takei about his childhood experiences with forced removal and incarcerated camp life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Resilience: An Interview with George Takei Pt. 1
October 24, 2022 05:00 - 34 minutes - 78.2 MBOn today's episode of Here's Where It Gets Interesting, Sharon speaks with actor George Takei about his childhood experiences with forced removal and incarcerated camp life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Resilience: Redress and Reparation
October 21, 2022 05:00 - 29 minutes - 68.5 MBToday's episode marks the conclusion of our series, Resilience: The Wartime Incarceration of Japanese Americans. During the postwar era, a new generation was born to the Nisei as they returned to their lives outside of incarceration camps. This third generation, the Sansei, were raised by parents who endured years of discrimination and incarceration, but they themselves came of age during the 1960s and 70s–a time in America’s history that saw the of both civil unrest… and transformation. Ho...
Resilience: The Fear of What Comes Next
October 19, 2022 05:00 - 21 minutes - 48.5 MBToday, on Resilience, we explore what happened when Japanese Americans were told they were free citizens once again. Given only a train ticket and twenty-five dollars, the incarcerated did not know what awaited them once they left. Would they be able to return to their West Coast homes and communities? Or perhaps it would be easier to make a fresh start in a new city. But who would give them jobs? Were there people willing to help an entire population of people who had been, for so long, vil...
Resilience: All the Way to the Supreme Court
October 17, 2022 05:00 - 37 minutes - 85.9 MBOn today’s episode of Resilience, we will hear more from Professor Lorraine Bannai about Executive Order 9066, Japanese American resistance, and how they were both important to key Supreme Court Cases. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Resilience: The Spirit of Resistance
October 14, 2022 05:00 - 26 minutes - 60.4 MBOn this episode of Resilience: The Wartime Incarceration of Japanese Americans, we are continuing our exploration of camp life. Through it all, many incarcerated found ways to add beauty and joy into their long days and nights. They cultivated the dusty land around them, practiced their crafts, and created a sense of community and belonging. Though they never should have had to, incarcerated Japanese Americans showed strength and resilience from behind fences made of barbed wire. We will hear...
Resilience: The Long Days of Camp Life
October 12, 2022 05:00 - 25 minutes - 58.4 MBToday on Resilience, we continue our exploration of the wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans. By the fall of 1942, the military had moved most of the imprisoned Japanese Americans from temporary camps into long-term incarceration barracks; camps in isolated locations where they would spend the next few years behind barbed wire fences and stripped of the lives and homes they worked so hard to create for themselves before the war. Joining us today is author Kimi Cunningham Grant who re...
Resilience: Only What You Can Carry
October 10, 2022 05:00 - 22 minutes - 52.1 MBOn today’s episode of Resilience: The Wartime Incarceration of Japanese Americans, Sharon talks about the military’s limitations on “enemy aliens” both before and after President Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066. Japanese Americans were forced to scramble. They didn’t know the specifics of what was coming next, but they knew that everything was changing rapidly. Military police flooded into West Coast cities, curfews were enacted and enforced, businesses were forced to close indefinitely, an...
Resilience: The Forced Removal of 120 Thousand Japanese Americans
October 07, 2022 05:00 - 22 minutes - 52.2 MBAfter President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, General John DeWitt issued over a hundred exclusion orders in quick succession, and demanded that all Japanese Americans–even those with as little as one-sixteenth ancestry–prepare themselves to be sent to incarceration camps. They had under two weeks to pack up–to give up everything they owned, everything they treasured–and prepare for the unknown. Joining us today is Professor Lorraine Bannai. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy ...
Resilience: A Country at War
October 05, 2022 05:00 - 25 minutes - 59.3 MBOn today’s episode in our series, Resilience, we talk about what happened immediately following the attack on Pearl Harbor and the death of over 2,400 American servicemen. How did the US government respond and how quickly did they mobilize? What, exactly, became the plan, and how did they carry it out? Joining us for part of the episode is Professor Lorraine Bannai. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Resilience: Japan Attacks Pearl Harbor
October 03, 2022 05:00 - 22 minutes - 50.7 MBToday on our series, Resilience, we are going to hear more from author Craig Nelson, who shares insights on what exactly happened during the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Resilience: The Movement of Japan in the East
September 30, 2022 05:00 - 23 minutes - 53.8 MBOn today’s episode in our series, Resilience: The Wartime Incarceration of Japanese Americans, we’re going to take a step back from the American West Coast and talk about some of the events that were happening globally. Events that shaped the relationship between the U.S. and two Asian countries: China and Japan. What led Japan to attack Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941? Joining us is author and historian Craig Nelson. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Resilience: The Patriotic Lives of the Issei and Nisei
September 28, 2022 05:00 - 24 minutes - 56 MBToday we continue our exploration of the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. Let’s learn about what life was like for the Japanese immigrants who settled along the West Coast–how they assimilated into American culture, raised their families, and flourished, despite the barriers of restrictive laws and policies and the open hostility from Japanese exclusionists. Passages read by Kimi Cunningham Grant from her memoir, Silver Like Dust. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/pri...
Resilience: Asian Immigration and the American West Coast
September 26, 2022 05:00 - 33 minutes - 75.7 MBWelcome to the first episode in our new series, Resilience. For the next few weeks, we are going to explore a part of American history that we tend to learn very little about: the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. So let’s dive into the details–the hows and the whys–and learn more about the resilience shown by the 120 thousand Japanese Americans who were forcibly removed from their homes, their neighborhoods, their jobs, and their schools, and who endured government-enf...
184. How to Learn Science from a 15-Ton Jello Pool with Mark Rober
September 23, 2022 05:00 - 33 minutes - 75.7 MBWelcome to Here’s Where It Gets Interesting! To kick off our new show name, Sharon sits down with one of the most interesting people she knows: Mark Rober, a former NASA engineer who has since amassed over 22 million viewers on his YouTube channel. If there was ever an episode of Sharon Says So that will make your kids think you’re cool for listening, it’s this one. Learn about what motivates Mark to create, and how he hopes his platform will motivate others to both have fun while learning ne...
How to Learn Science from a 15-Ton Jello Pool with Mark Rober
September 23, 2022 05:00 - 33 minutes - 75.7 MBWelcome to Here’s Where It Gets Interesting! To kick off our new show name, Sharon sits down with one of the most interesting people she knows: Mark Rober, a former NASA engineer who has since amassed over 22 million viewers on his YouTube channel. If there was ever an episode of Sharon Says So that will make your kids think you’re cool for listening, it’s this one. Learn about what motivates Mark to create, and how he hopes his platform will motivate others to both have fun while learning ne...
183. Find Relief in the Regular Stuff with Nora McInerny
September 21, 2022 05:00 - 39 minutes - 90.8 MBOn this episode of Sharon Says So, author Nora McInerny joins Sharon to talk about vibes: good vibes, bad vibes, and the fact that most vibes are mixed, at best. When we recognize that life is full of regular stuff, it can take the pressure off. It’s okay to have a regular-looking kitchen with a regular, fingerprint-coated toaster! It’s okay to be sad at a funeral instead of feeling compelled to reassure everyone that you’re fine! Feel the stress to perform fade away as you listen to Nora and...
Find Relief in the Regular Stuff with Nora McInerny
September 21, 2022 05:00 - 39 minutes - 90.8 MBOn this episode of Here's Where It Gets Interesting, author Nora McInerny joins Sharon to talk about vibes: good vibes, bad vibes, and the fact that most vibes are mixed, at best. When we recognize that life is full of regular stuff, it can take the pressure off. It’s okay to have a regular-looking kitchen with a regular, fingerprint-coated toaster! It’s okay to be sad at a funeral instead of feeling compelled to reassure everyone that you’re fine! Feel the stress to perform fade away as you ...
182. What Makes a Great Leader Stand Out with Stephen M. R. Covey
September 19, 2022 05:00 - 35 minutes - 81.8 MBOn today’s episode of the Sharon Says So Podcast, Sharon has a conversation with bestselling author Stephen M. R. Covey about effective leadership and high trust culture. The most underrated attribute in great leaders is humility which means that effective and trustworthy leaders are those who seek to understand first and be understood second. The working world has evolved since the start of the Covid pandemic and its leadership needs to reflect new practices built on the principles of “trust...
What Makes a Great Leader Stand Out with Stephen M. R. Covey
September 19, 2022 05:00 - 35 minutes - 81.8 MBOn today’s episode of Here's Where It Gets Interesting, Sharon has a conversation with bestselling author Stephen M. R. Covey about effective leadership and high trust culture. The most underrated attribute in great leaders is humility which means that effective and trustworthy leaders are those who seek to understand first and be understood second. The working world has evolved since the start of the Covid pandemic and its leadership needs to reflect new practices built on the principles of ...
181. The U.S. and the Holocaust with Ken Burns and Sarah Botstein
September 16, 2022 05:00 - 47 minutes - 109 MBOn today’s episode of the Sharon Says So Podcast, we are thrilled to sit down with documentary filmmakers Ken Burns and Sarah Botstein. Their new docuseries, The U.S. and the Holocaust, airs on PBS on Friday, September 18th, 2022 and highlights the nuances of America’s response to the Holucaust. Ken and Sarah talk about their work, and about how it can often be the little known, everyday people–citizens and desk-sitting bureaucrats–who can make a lasting impact on history. Heroism does not me...